^ 


t 


^^ 


CO 

r- 

m 

co 

O 

1 

0 

CO 

iH 

o 

a 

CO 

-H 

t^ 

tH 

O 

LO 

c 

CO 

V 

-H 

rH 

w 

M 

fO 

a 

v£> 

B 

C/3 

o 

0) 

• 

^  ^ 

W 

EH 

-P 

C 

r^ 

O 

VD 

V 

>. 

•H 

o 

^  XJ 

W 

CN 

+J 

+J 

l/l 

>* 

-H 

'-•       f 

> 

e 

n3 

e 

PQ 

CO 

Pr< 

FAITH, 


FAITH, 


THE    PEINCIPLE 


MISSIONS. 


BY 
THOMAS  SMYTH,  D.  D. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION. 

No.  821  Chestnut  Street. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1857, 

By  JAMES  DUNLAP, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Eastern  District 
of  Pennsylvania. 


.^^ 


Fi<OP£n 


Preface 5 

Fundamental  Facts 9 

Faith,  the  Principle  of  Missions 11 

The  Faith  of  Isaiah  in  the  conversion  of  the  world.. .  15 

The  Faith  of  Patriarchs  in  the  conversion  of  the 

world 23 

Our  Faith  provoked  to  exercise,  not  only  by  that  of 

former  ages,  but  also  of  heathen  nations 33 

Faith  in  the  conversion  of  the  world  sustained  by 
invariable  prophecy  and  practice,  and  by  ever 
augmenting  evidences 40 

This  Faith  essential  to  Christian  life,  and  is  guided 
only  by  the  authority,  requirements,  and  pro- 
mises of  Christ, 51 


'^^^^-^h--.^^^ 


The  following  argument  and  appeal ''!rtay*fe«^*<36l 
sidered  as  a  sequel  to  "The  Conversion  of  theAVorld; 
or,  IIow  are  the  Heathen  to  be  Converted?^'  published 
by  the  Board.  In  that,  the  purpose  of  God  and  the 
agency  of  man  were  exhibited.  The  union  of  Christ 
and  his  people  is  the  divine  instrumentality  for  the 
conversion  of  the  world — an  agency  by  which  God  is 
glorified,  and  man  exalted.  God  in  Christ,  as  repre- 
sented in  sinful,  guilty,  and  perishing  sinners,  gives 
*'to  every  creature  in  all  the  world,''  a  divine,  an 
irresistible  claim  upon  the  sympathy,  the  love,  and 
the  labours  of  every  faithful,  loving,  and  obedient 
heart.  And  every  zealovis  and  self-denying  believer, 
representing  Christ,  and  faithfully  exemplying  his 
covenant  and  promise,  is  consecrated  by  an  unc- 
tion from  on  high,  which  at  once  makes  him  a 
king  and  a  priest  unto  God,  a  co-worker,  and  an 
ambassador  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.     For  in  his  hand 

Is  put  the  writ  of  manumission,  signed 
By  God's  own  signature ;  to  drive  away 
From  earth  the  dark  infernal  legionry 
Of  superstition,  ignorance,  and  hell ; 
High  on  the  pagan  hills,  -where  Satan  sat, 
Encamped,  and  o'er  the  subject  kingdoms  throws 


b  PREFACE. 

Perpetual  night,  to  plant  Immanuel's  cross, 

The  ensign  of  the  gospel,  blazing  round 

Immortal  truth;  and,  in  the  wilderness 

Of  human  waste,  to  sow  eternal  life ; 

And  from  the  rock,  where  Sin,  with  horrid  yell, 

Devours  its  victims  unredeemed,  to  raise 

The  melody  of  grateful  hearts  to  heaven. 

Such  and  so  great,  such  and  no  less  than  this,  is 
every  Christian. 

What  then  is  the  principle  by  which,  in  this  holy 
and  heavenly  task,  the  Christian  is  sustained?  That 
principle  is  faith ;  and  the  delineation  of  this  truth 
is  the  one  object  of  the  present  treatise. 

The  term  "missions"  is  of  Latin,  and  not  of  scrip- 
tural origin.  It  is  therefore  delusive,  by  leading 
many  to  imagine  that  the  enterprise  it  expresses  is  of 
human,  and  not  of  divine  appointment.  The  vrord, 
however,  is  only  a  brief  translation  of  scriptural 
terms  which  indicate  the  chief  end  and  work  of 
the  Church  and  of  every  believer.  These  are  both 
"sent"  into  the  world,  prepared  and  delegated  by 
God  to  propagate  the  gospel,  and  to  evangelize  the 
world. 

How  to  begin,  how  to  accomplish  best. 

This  end  of  being  on  earth,  this  mission  high, 

should  be  to  every  man  his  one  great  business  here. 
For  even  as  the  Father  sent  Christ  into  the  world,  so 
has  Christ  sent  every  disciple  of  his  into  the  world, 

With  holy  trembling,  holy  fear, 
His  utmost  counsel  to  fulfil. 


PREFACE.  7 

Every  believer,  therefore,  is  one  sent,  that  is,  he  is  a 
missionary.  He  is  sent  on  a  mission.  And  to  make 
this  calling  sure,  and  to  endure  to  the  end  in  every 
good  -word  and  work,  is  to  take  up  his  cross  and 
follov*^  Jesus. 

The  Church,  therefore,  is  a  mission,  and  every 
Christian  is  a  missionary.  The  object  of  this  mission 
is  the  conversion  of  the  world.  The  end  to  be  secured 
is  glory  to  God  by  the  salvation  of  them  that  are  lost. 
The  means  to  be  employed  is  the  gospel.  The 
principle  is  faith. 

It  is  thus  obvious  that  the  field  of  this  mission  is 
"all  the  world,"  embracing  "every  creature;''  and 
that  there  can  be  no  Home  and  Foreign  Missions. 
These  terms  are  purely  relative  and  conventional. 
The  centre  of  the  missionary  field  is  in  every  coun- 
try, every  state,  every  neighbourhood,  and  its  cir- 
cumference is  that  which  is  distant  from  it.  AVhat 
is  a  home  mission  in  one  place,  and  in  one  country, 
is  foreign  to  every  other ;  and  what  is  more,  it  has 
a  reference  to,  a  bearing  upon,  and  a  connection 
with,  every  other.  The  Church  is  one.  The  mis- 
sion of  the  Church  is  one.  The  mission  of  every 
believer  is  one.  The  end  contemplated,  prayed  for, 
laboured  for,  by  every  Christian,  is  the  progress, 
the  permanence,  and  the  power  of  Christianity, 
throughout  the  whole  world.  For  this  he  is  com- 
missioned. This  is  the  tenor  of  his  "orders."  Every 
dispatch  from  his  Leader  and  Commander  bears  upon 
its  face  this  impress,  and  looks  to  this  result.    Whe- 


8  PREFACE. 

ther,  therefore,  the  Christian  is  male  or  female,  young 
or  old,  a  private  memher  or  an  officer,  a  deacon,  an 
elder,  or  a  minister,  a  Sabbath-school  teacher,  a  col- 
porteur, an  editor,  an  author,  or  a  publisher,  he  is  to 
live,  and  labour,  and  <>;ive,  and  pray,  and  do  all  to  the 
glory  of  his  divine  Saviour,  in  the  universal  diffusion 
of  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  Jesus.  To  live  and 
labour  for  self,  or  family,  or  home,  or  church  alone, 
is  to  turn  renegade,  to  violate  orders,  to  repudiate  his 
commission,  to  circumscribe  what  is  universal,  to 
write  corhan  on  what  is  for  the  good  of  all,  and  to 
transform  apparent  obedience  into  resistance,  and 
partial  duty  into  disobedience  and  selfishness. 

"Lord,  I  believe,  help  thou  mine  unbelief.'^  And 
whatsoever  I  do,  help  me  to  do  it  as  unto  thee,  and 
for  that  world  of  which  thou  art  the  Saviour.  And 
may  I  rejoice  that  I  am  counted  worthy  to  be  a  mem- 
ber of  thy  universal  kingdom,  thy  Church  throughout 
the  earth ;  to  feel  that  all  I  do  is  done  to  it,  and  con- 
ducive to  its  interests ;  and  that  in  all  its  glory  and 
its  shame,  its  conquests  and  defeats,  its  promises  and 
prospects,  I  am  a  partaker. 

Blest  Spirit  which  with  love  imbued, 

Not  seeking  recompense. 
Turns  to  the  Giver  of  all  good 

From  things  of  sight  and  sense. 

How  great  is  thy  reward  in  store, 

To  whom  e'en  now  'tis  given, 
Christ  to  receive  in  His  own  poor, 

And  make  thy  home  a  heaven. 


FAITH,   THfi^Si'^i^l^-^f^ 


FUNDAMENTAL   FACTS. 

In  a  little  volume,  entitled  "  The  Conver- 
sion of  the  World ;  or^  How  is  the  World  to 
he  Converted  f  it  was  shown  that  the  king- 
dom of  Christ  is  destined  to  an  absolute 
universality;  that  this  universality  is  to  be 
accomplished  through  the  agency  of  man; 
that  for  this  agency  man  is  naturally  and 
spiritually  endowed;  that  the  diffusion  of 
the  gospel — that  is,  the  good  news  of  salva- 
tion— is  a  solemn  trust,  with  which,  under 
all  dispensations  of  the  Church,  men  have 
been  invested;  that  the  holiness  and  happi- 
ness of  believers  have  ever  been  dependent 
upon  their  fidelity  to  this  trust ;  and  that  we 
are  therefore  impelled  to  self-denying  energy 
and  devotion  in  the  cause  of  Christ,  by  what- 
2 


10 

ever  of  obligation  and  of  love  we  owe  to  him 
as  our  Redeemer,  and  bj  all  that  we  desire 
and  hope  for  from  him,  for  the  increase  of  our 
faith  and  the  consummation  of  our  joys. 

The  whole  theory,  power,  and  prosecution 
of  Missions,  Home  and  Foreign,  therefore, 
rest  upon  the  great  fundamental  truth  of 
the  supreme  Divinity,  paramount  authority, 
infinite  wisdom,  illimitable  resources,  and 
boundless  sovereignty  of  our  Lord  and  Sa- 
viour Jesus  Christ. 

Christ,  as  Head  over  all  things,  Lord  of 
lords,  and  King  of  kings,  has  dominion  over 
the  nations,  as  truly  and  as  fully  as  over  the 
Church.  The  sovereignty  of  Christ  over  the 
kingdoms  of  the  world  is  not  less  fully  nor 
less  clearly  taught  in  Scripture,  than  his 
dominion  over  the  Church;  neither  is  it  less 
essential,  or  less  full  of  encouragement  and 
assurance  to  his  believing  people.  The  de- 
cree, ratified  with  the  oath  of  God,  that  to 
Christ  the  heathen  shall  be  given  as  an  inhe- 
ritance, and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth 
as  his  possession;  that  to  him  every  knee 
shall  bow,  and  every  tongue  confess,  and  that 


or  MISSIONS.  11 

his  kingdom  shall  rule  over  all,  is  thus  ren- 
dered infallibly  certain,  not  only  because 
God  has  decreed  it,  but  also  because  the 
government  is  upon  his  shoulders,  to  whom 
is  given  all  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth, 
and  one  jot  or  tittle  of  whose  omnipotent 
will  cannot  fail. 

Jesus  shall  reign  where'er  the  sun 
Does  his  successive  journeys  run; 
His  kingdom  stretch  from  shore  to  shore, 
Till  moons  shall  wax  and  wane  no  more. 

To  him  shall  endless  prayer  be  made, 
And  endless  praises  crown  his  head; 
His  name,  like  sweet  perfume,  shall  rise 
With  every  morning  sacrifice. 

People  and  realms  of  every  tongue 
His  love  shall  praise  with  sweetest  song; 
And  infant  voices  shall  proclaim 
Loud  hallelujahs  to  his  name. 


FAITH,    THE    PRINCIPLE    OF    MISSIONS. 

The  PRINCIPLE  of  Missions,  that  is,  of  all 
Christian  enterprise,  is  therefore  faith — 
faith  in  the  authority,  and  wisdom,  and 
power,  and  unchangeable  purposes  of  God 
in  Christ. 


12'  FAITH,   THE   PRINCIPLE 

Faith,  to  her  royal  standard  ever  true, 
Leading  on  high  the  bright  and  ordered  line, 
And  raising  with  firm  hand  her  Master's  sign, 
Around  her  throws  a  stole  of  heavenly  blue, 
The  cross  her  sceptre,  and  her  victory  too. 

As  a  scheme  of  universal  philanthropy,  and 
of  self-denying,  self-sacrificing  expenditure, 
the  gospel  scheme  for  the  conversion  of  the 
world,  justifies  itself  only  to  God's  children. 
It  appeals  not  to  the  wisdom,  or  valour,  or 
pitiful  compassion  of  unsanctified  humanity. 
In  its  estimation  it  is  folly.  As  it  regards 
its  object,  its  instrumentality,  its  motives, 
and  its  achievement,  it  is  as  high  above 
the  thoughts  of  impenitent  and  unbelieving 
men,  as  are  the  heavens  above  the  earth. 
It  can  only  be  understood,  so  as  to  be  fully 
appreciated,  and  heartily  believed,  and  per- 
severingly  sustained,  where  there  is  a  spiri- 
tual discernment. 

Faith  guides  us  through  the  dark  to  Deity, 

Whilst  without  light  we  witness  what  she  shows : 

God  in  his  word,  as  well  as  works,  we  see, 
And  trace  the  course  of  empires  to  their  close. 

Faith  is  illimitable  in  its  source  and  object. 
Its  weakness  is  lost  in  infinite  strength,  its 


OF    MISSIONS.  13 

ignorance  in  boundless  wisdom,  its  narrow 
sphere  in  omnipresence,  its  partial  vision  in 
omniscience,  its  evanescent  life  in  eternity. 
It  is  almighty  in  the  mightiness  of  God,  in- 
vincible in  his  power,  unerring  in  his  fore- 
sight, indomitable  in  his  resources,  confident 
in  his  immutability,  and  happy  in  his  hap- 
piness. 

Lord,  now  thou  art  ascended  high, 

And  from  thy  temple  gone, 
Let  faith  her  eagle-wings  supply, 

And  see  thee  on  thy  throne  ; 
Her  mystic  touch  still  feel  thee  here, 
And  in  each  heart  thine  altar  rear, 
Till  thou  in  glory  shalt  return. 
And  earth  with  heavenly  love  shall  burn. 

That  the  heathen  will  be  converted,  and 
the  whole  world  brought  into  subjection  to 
Christ;  that  as  a  Christian  I  am  bound  to 
labour  for  their  salvation;  that  my  feeble 
and  limited  cooperation  can  be  of  important 
help  in  the  furtherance  of  such  a  glorious 
work;  that  in  any  event  such  labours  of  love 
shall  receive  a  full  recompense  of  reward; — 
this  is  just  as  truly  a  matter  of  faith,  founded 
exclusively  upon  the  testimony  and  authority 
2* 


14 

of  God,  as  is  any  one  of  all  the  other  doctrines 
of  the  Bible.  They  all  stand  or  fall  together. 
They  are  component  parts  of  the  same  reve- 
lation, and  of  the  same  plan  of  redemption. 
They  must  be  received  or  rejected  together. 
If  one  be  true  and  of  infinite  moment  to  be 
believed  and  obeyed,  not  less  so  is  every 
other;  and  not  less  is  this  great  doctrine  and 
duty  of  the  vyorld's  conversion.  For  He  who 
said,  *' Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
thou  shalt  be  saved,"  also  said,  "Go  ye  into 
all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature."  If  therefore  the  one  saying  be 
true,  the  other  cannot  be  less  veritable;  and 
if  he  that  believeth  not  the  one  shall  be 
damned,  he  that  disobeys  the  other  must,  in 
like  manner,  be  condemned,  because  he  hath 
not  believed  on  the  only  begotten  Son  of 
God. 

"Go  preach  my  gospel,"  saith  the  Lord; 
"Bid  the  whole  earth  my  grace  receive: 
He  shall  be  saved,  who  trusts  my  word, 
He  shall  be  damned,  who  wont  believe. 

" Teach  all  the  nations  my  commands; 
I'm  with  you  till  the  world  shall  end : 


OF   MISSIONS.  15 

All  power  is  trusted  in  my  hands, 
I  can  destroy,  and  I  defend." 

He  spake,  and  light  shone  round  his  head; 

On  a  bright  cloud  to  heaven  he  rode : 
They  to  the  farthest  nations  spread 

The  grace  of  their  ascended  God. 


THE    FAITH    OF    ISAIAH    I!^    THE    CONVERSION    OF    THE 
WORLD. 

So  it  was  from  the  very  beginning.  Let 
us  revert  to  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah,  uttered 
nearly  twenty-five  hundred  years  ago,  that 
"the  glory  of  the  Lord  should  be  revealed, 
and  that  all  flesh  should  see  it  together." 
This  was  clearly  one  of  those  "words  of  God 
which  came  of  old  time,"  through  prophets 
who  understood  not  the  things  that  they 
uttered,  though  they  searched  diligently 
what,  or  what  manner  of  time,  the  Spirit 
that  was  in  them  did  signify  when  it  testified 
beforehand  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  the 
glory  that  should  follow.  The  prophecy  was 
therefore  more  a  matter  of  faith  and  obedi- 
ence to  Isaiah  and  his  contemporary  believ- 
ers, as  resting  more  exclusively  on  the  author- 
ity and  power  of  God  for  its  accomplishment, 


16  FAITH,   THE   PRINCIPLE 

than  it  Is  to  us  in  these  hist  cla^'S.  How  this 
prophecy  was  to  be  fulfilled,  no  man  at  that 
day  could  possibly  conjecture.  But  a  very 
limited  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
globe,  constituting  "all  flesh,"  was  then 
known  to  the  dwellers  in  Palestine.  They 
were  not  entirely  ignorant;  but  what  they 
knew  was  little  more  than  enough  to  make 
it  certain  that  far  more  remained  unknown. 
Many  portions  of  the  world,  of  which  they 
had  acquired  some  information,  were  beyond 
all  ordinary  or  safe  means  of  access.  The 
opportunities  of  intercommunication  were 
very  limited,  expensive,  and  hazardous.  The 
means  for  difi'using  information,  and  inter- 
changing ideas,  were  also  of  the  most  imper- 
fect and  unsatisfactory  character.  The  pro- 
duction of  a  single  volume  was  a  work  of 
industry  for  years,  and  of  heavy  expenditure. 
And  thus  also  the  arts  and  manufactures, 
which  now  elevate  and  refine  society,  which 
impart  comfort,  which  induce  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  a  fixed  and  permanent  home,  and  which 
secure  opportunities  for  instruction  and  learn- 
ing, were  then  but  very  partially  developed, 


OF  MISSIONS.  17 

and  very  laboriously  carried  on.  And  in  ad- 
dition to  all  these  insuperable  obstacles  to 
the  possible  accomplishment  of  the  promise, 
the  work  itself  was,  humanly  speaking,  among 
the  most  impossible  of  all  impossibilities;  for 
even  then  it  had  become  a  proverb,  that  no 
nation  had  ever  changed  its  gods.  Jer.  ii.  11. 
The  prophecy  was  therefore  believed  to  be 
divine,  and  to  be  a  future  certainty  to  the 
prophet  Isaiah  and  contemporary  believers, 
only  because  it  was  the  fiat  of  Him  whose 
"will  is  power,  whose  power  is  infinite,  whose 
infinity  is  wise,  whose  wisdom  is  omniscient, 
"whose  omniscience  is  omnipresent,  and  whose 
existence  is  an  eternal  now — the  same  yes- 
terday, and  to-day,  and  for  ever. 

One  adequate  support  for  Zion's  hopes, 

Wliose  towering  height  seemed  built  on  nothingness, 

Was  laid — one  only ;  an  assured  belief 

That  the  procession  of  her  fate,  howe'er 

Sad  or  disturbed,  was  ordered  by  a  Being 

Of  infinite  benevolence  and  power ; 

Whose  everlasting  purposes  embrace 

All  accidents,  converting  them  to  good. 

The  event  foretold  through  Isaiah  had  as  yet 
no  existence,  no  being,  no  substance;  nothing 


18.  FAITH,   THE   PRINCIPLE 

that  could  be  cither  seen  or  handled.  Dark- 
ness still  shrouded  in  moral  chaos  the  greater 
portion  of  the  earth,  and  the  foretold  revela- 
tion of  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  universal 
diffusion  of  spiritual  light,  was  then  as  incre- 
dible and  mysterious  as  the  foretold  creation 
of  a  new  world  out  of  the  original  chaotic 
void  would  have  been  to  beings  who  preceded 
it.  The  present  certainty  and  infallible  as- 
surance felt  by  the  prophet,  and  believers  of 
that  age,  that  this  event,  as  yet  invisible  and 
future,  would  nevertheless  be  literally  accom- 
plished somehow,  and  at  some  time,  was 
therefore  founded  solely  upon  the  testimony 
of  God  that  such  should  be  the  case.  That 
testimony  was  believed,  embraced,  and  con- 
fided in  by  them  with  undoubting  confidence. 
This  was  their  faith.  The  same  principle 
which  enabled  them  to  believe,  in  opposition 
to  all  the  theories  of  philosophy,  that  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  were  made  out  of 
nothing  by  the  word  of  God's  power,  led 
them  to  believe  also,  that  a  new  moral 
heavens  and  earth  would  arise  out  of  the 
chaotic  ruins  of  this  sin-cursed  and  polluted 


OF   MISSIONS.  19 

world.  "God,"  they  said,  "hath  spoken  it, 
and  let  God  be  true,  though  his  truth  should 
make  every  man's  wisdom  and  philosophy  a 
lie.  With  man  it  is  impossible,  but  with  God 
nothing  is  impossible;  and  having  determined 
upon  it,  he  will  surely  bring  it  to  pass." 

Here  truly  is  something  marvellous,  and 
well  deserving  our  most  earnest  considera- 
tion. Let  us  turn  aside  and  contemplate  this 
wonderful  sight. 

Oh,  how  great  was  the  faith  then  exercised 
by  the  prophet  and  his  believing  country- 
men !  It  was  nothing  less  than  the  substan- 
tial embodiment,  in  actual  reality,  of  the  long 
distant  consummation  so  devoutly  hoped  for; 
and  the  evidence,  plain  and  irrefragable,  of 
the  things  not  yet  seen.  It  brought,  with 
telescopic  eye,  the  distant  near,  the  future 
present,  and  the  invisible  within  the  range  of 
sight.  It  caught  the  triumph  from  afar,  and 
rejoiced  in  hope  of  the  glory  to  come.  Its 
glimmering  light  penetrated  the  gloom  of 
centuries,  and  seeing  Christ's  day  afar  off,  it 
was  glad.  It  laughed  at  impossibilities,  and 
boldly  said  to  every  intervening  mountain, 


20  FAITH,   THE   PRINCIPLE 

"Be  thou  removed,  and  be  thou  cast  into  the 
sea."  The  unscalable  mountains  became  a 
plain  before  it,  the  valleys  were  exalted,  the 
rough  places  became  smooth,  and  a  glorious 
highway  was  constructed,  on  which  the  cha- 
riot of  the  gospel  was  beheld  rolling  onward, 
in  its  victorious  march,  conquering  and  to 
conquer.  Against  hope  they  believed,  and 
against  all  the  weakness  and  imbecility  of 
man's  nature,  to  which  these  events  were 
utterly  impossible,  they  were  strong  in  faith, 
knowing  that  what  to  man  was  impossible, 
was  possible  and  easy  to  God ;  that  a  thou- 
sand years  were  to  him  as  one  day,  and  one 
day  as  a  thousand  years;  and  that  what  he 
has  determined  shall  be,  is  as  real  and  as 
certain  as  what  already  exists.     They  said, 

Therefore,  if  thou  canst  fail, 
Then  can  thy  truth  and  cause.  But  while  rocks  stand, 
And  rivers  run,  thou  canst  not  shrink  or  quail : 
Yea,  when  both  rocks  and  all  things  shall  disband, 
Then  shalt  thou  be  our  rock  and  tower, 
And  make  their  ruin  praise  thy  power. 

How  does  this  faith,  this  hope  in  despair, 
this   love  for  Christ  unseen,  this  work  for 


OF   MISSIONS.  21 

Christ's  kingdom,  though  yet  unestablishcd, 
and  all  this  manifested  by  those  to  whom 
Christ,  "the  glory  of  the  Lord,"  was  yet 
unrevealed  and  his  work  unfinished — oh !  how 
does  this  faith  of  a  prophetic  age  rebuke  and 
put  to  shame  our  littleness  of  faith  in  the 
universal  extension  of  that  kingdom  which 
"  the  glory  of  Jehovah,"  manifest  as  our  incar- 
nate Saviour,  has  actually  established  by  his 
finished  sacrifice  and  death,  and  over  which 
he  now  ever  presides  in  all  the  glory  and 
the  power  of  his  infinite  attributes!  Why, 
oh,  why  are  we  so  faithless  and  unbeliev- 
ing! With  all  that  was  most  inconceiv- 
able to  the  mind  of  man  in  the  early  pro- 
mises of  redemption,  brought  to  pass  in  the 
wondrous  life  and  expiatory  death  of  the 
divine  Deliverer,  why  should  we  limit  the 
high  and  mighty  Ruler  of  this  divine  king- 
dom, or  question  the  promise  of  his  coming, 
or  hesitate  to  live  and  act  in  view  of  the 
ultimate  success  of  all  his  decrees,  and  the 
literal  fulfilment  of  all  his  prophecies  ?  What 
though  there  are  difficulties,  insurmountable 
by  human  wisdom,  in  the  way !  What  though 
3 


22  FAITH,   THE   PRINCIPLE 

but  partial  success  has  thus  far  resulted  from 
past  achievements  and  expenditure!  What 
though  clouds  and  darkness  are  round  about 
the  Christian  host,  and  envelope  the  move- 
ments of  the  Captain  of  their  salvation  !  He 
who  is  our  Leader  and  Commander,  has  all 
times  and  seasons,  as  well  as  all  hearts  in 
his  hands,  and  in  his  own  measure  and  man- 
ner will  surely  perform  all  that  he  has  pur- 
posed, and  all  that  he  has  promised. 

All  liail,  triumphant  Lord  ! 

Heaven  with  hosannas  rings, 
AVhile  earth,  in  humble  strains, 

Thy  praise  responsive  sings : 
Worthy  art  thou,  who  once  was  slain. 
Through  endless  years  to  live  and  reign. 
Gird  on,  great  God,  thy  sword. 

Ascend  thy  conquering  car, 
While  justice,  truth,  and  love. 

Maintain  the  glorious  war: 
Victorious,  thou  thy  foes  shalt  tread, 
And  sin  and  hell  in  triumph  lead. 

Make  bare  thy  potent  arm, 

And  wing  the  unerring  dart 
With  salutary  pangs, 

To  each  rebellious  heart ; 
Then  dying  souls  for  life  shall  sue, 
Numerous  as  drops  of  morning  dew. 


OF   MISSIONS.  23 

THE    FAITH    OF    FATRIARCHS    IX    THE    COXVERSION    OF 
TUE    A\'ORLD. 

But  there  is  a  sight  even  more  wonderful 
and  more  overpowering  than  this  wondrous 
faith  of  a  prophetic  age.  For  great  as  was 
the  faith  of  Isaiah  and  his  contemporary  be- 
lievers in  the  future  universality  and  triumph 
of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  it  was  not  as  great 
as  that  of  previous  ages.  Isaiah  had  an  earlier 
testimony  on  which  to  fall  back.  Other  pro- 
phets— Nahum,  Hosea,  Micah,  Amos,  Joel, 
Solomon,  David,  Samuel,  Moses,  Jacob, 
Abraham,  Enoch — had  all  preceded  him, 
and  had  kindled  beacon  lights  along  the 
coasts  of  time,  and  left  memorials  of  God's 
wonderful  works  already  performed,  as  sure- 
ties of  the  mightier  marvels  yet  to  be  accom- 
plished. God  had  thus,  at  sundry  times  and 
in  divers  manners,  spoken  in  past  times  the 
glorious  things  in  store  for  his  Church.  The 
light  of  prophecy  and  promise  was  kindled 
even  in  Eden,  when  God  announced  the 
coming  Deliverer,  and  complete  redemption  to 
fallen  man.  It  was  more  brightly  illumined 
by  the  establishment  of  the  Church  in  the 


24  FAITH,   THE   PRINCIPLE 

family  of  Adam,  and  among  "  the  sons  of  God" 
in  the  ante-diluvian  dispensation.  It  was 
kept  burning  with  bright  hope,  in  the  ark, 
amid  the  raging  waves  of  a  deluged  world. 
It  was  again  rekindled  on  Ararat,  and  in  the 
bow  of  promise.  The  stars  of  heaven  com- 
bined their  effulgence  to  increase  its  signifi- 
cance to  Abraham,  and  to  his  believing  seed 
in  all  generations.  And  thus  had  the  shining 
light  shone  more  and  more  clearly  and  con- 
vincingly, as  the  perfect  day  of  full  and  final 
completion  drew  on. 

A  wandei'er  through  the  vale  of  years, 
Faith  westward  bent  her  pilgrim  feet, 
And  here  hath  made  her  blest  retreat. 
A  wondrous  key  her  shoulder  bears. 
The  blue  of  heaven  the  stole  she  wears. 
When  angels  left  sad  Eden's  seat. 
She  staid,  fallen  man's  companion  meet ; 
Again  his  downcast  head  she  rears, 
And  seeks  the  lost  to  calm  their  fears. 
'Twas  she  at  Jordan  vigils  kept, 
And  by  Euphrates  sat  and  wept: 
To  those  who  still  her  secret  prove, 
A  hidden  power  she  doth  disclose, 
A  word  that  may  the  mountains  move. 

Now  on  all  this  series  of  fulfilled  prophecy 


OF   MISSIONS.  25 

and  developed  providential  events,  all  cor- 
responding parts  of  the  one  great  prophecy, 
and  all  conspiring  to  its  consummation,  Isaiah 
could  fall  back.  To  this  law  and  testimony 
he  could  bring  his  own  revelations.  In  its 
light  he  could  see  to  read  their  obscure  and 
doubtful  interpretation.  He  could  compare 
the  one  with  the  other;  and  finding  them 
exactly  accordant  in  principle,  and  only  dif- 
fering in  form  and  degree,  he  could  confirm 
and  strengthen  his  faith  by  looking  to  what 
was  already  done,  while  anticipating  with 
undoubting  assurance  what  was  yet  dark  and 
distant. 

The  course  of  Providence,  in  the  great 
work  of  redemption,  resembles  a  boundless 
ocean;  the  distance  between  the  commence- 
ment and  the  termination  of  whose  onward 
flow  is  as  far  as  from  the  beginning  to  the 
end  of  time.  Innumerable  are  the  bays  and 
inlets,  the  shoals  and  quicksands,  the  rocks 
and  tempests,  that  interrupt  and  shape  its 
course.  And  often,  in  the  thick  fog,  and  the 
murky  night,  and  the  lowering  storm,  and 
when  the  lights  burn  dim,   the  future  has 


26 


seemed  to  be  a  dreary  blank.  But  in  Isaiah's 
time  the  divine  chart  of  prophecy  had  hitherto 
guided  the  vessel  of  the  Church  safely  and 
prosperously  through  many  a  fearful  tempest, 
and  had  thus  inspired  her  brave  mariners  with 
implicit  confidence  in  steering  right  onward, 
amid  every  future  vicissitude.  The  anchor 
they  well  knew  was  within  the  veil,  invisible 
to  mortal  eyes,  but  sure-fastened  to  the  eter- 
nal throne.  Every  new  promise,  and  every 
fresh  interposition  and  fulfilment,  were  so 
many  impregnable  chains  fastened  to  it,  and 
reaching  out  into  the  present  and  visible,  so 
as  to  be  both  seen  and  handled  and  again 
made  fast,  by  the  invincible  links  of  faith,  to 
every  drifting  voyager.  To  these  links  there- 
fore, Isaiah  and  the  believing  hearts  of  his 
age  could  cling,  and  be  thus  held  fast  and 
made  buoyant  with  hope,  in  all  time  of  their 
darkness  and  despondency,  until  the  day-star 
should  arise,  the  promised  morn  appear,  and 
the  glorious  day  of  the  world's  redemption 
shine  forth  in  its  meridian  splendour. 

Let  the  storms  ply  their  deep  and  threat'ning  bass, 
The  Bow  of  Promise  shall  the  shade  illume, 


OF  MISSIONS.  27 

Brightly  descried  in  Faith's  eternal  glass, 
E'en  like  an  angel's  many-coloured  plume 
WaA'ing  in  tempest — pledge  that  in  her  bloom, 
Nature,  emerging  from  the  stormy  mass, 
Will  keep  her  time  and  order.     Let  them  pass — 
The  wicked  and  their  plottings ;  'mid  the  gloom, 
The  Church  surveys  her  covenant  sign,  and  smiles; 
And  'neath  her  solemn  rainbow's  dripping  arch, 
A  mystic  wing  spreads  o'er  her  daring  march, 
And  forth  she  goes,  on  heavenly  work  the  whiles. 
Though  weeping,  sure  that  Christ  in  joy  shall  bring 
Earth's  gathered  sheaves  at  harvest-moon  to  sing. 

But  to  Adam  and  Eve,  to  Abel  and  Enoch, 
and  to  the  early  seed  of  the  woman — the  sons 
of  God,  the  true  believers — these  promises, 
these  prophecies,  and  these  fulfilments,  were 
ALL  future.  Satan  had  triumphed.  Man  was 
cursed.  The  earth  groaned,  being  burdened. 
Cain,  who  was  himself  the  hoped-for  Deli- 
verer,* was  already  a  murderer,  and  the  child 
of  succeeding  promise,  the  first  bloody  victim 
of  all-conquering  death.  As  men  multiplied 
sin  increased,  and  irreligion,  ungodliness,  and 
apostacy  abounded.  And  yet  to  them  and 
their  believing  posterity  was  still  held  forth 

*  Eve  said,  "  I  have  received  Him,  even  Him  who  will 
be!    The  promised  One  !    The  longed  fori" 


28 

and  reiterated  the  glorious  promise  of  an 
ultimate  and  universal  establishment  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ,  the  Jehovah  who  was  to 
come,  that,  as  the  Mighty  God,  he  might 
destroy  the  works  of  the  Devil,  spoil  princi- 
palities and  powers,  making  a  show  of  them 
openly,  and  bring  in  an  everlasting  right- 
eousness, and  a  kingdom  that  should  not  be 
moved. 

How  great  then  was  the  faith  required  of 
these  primitive  and  patriarchal  believers,  to 
live,  and  labour,  and  endure,  and  suffer,  and 
hope  unto  the  end,  for  the  promise  to  be  real- 
ized to  themselves  and  all  future  ages,  while 
they  had  no  other  foundation  to  stand  upon 
than  the  simple  word,  and  promise,  and  com- 
mand of  God  !  How  childlike,  how  beautiful ! 
How  touchingly  inspiriting,  and  yet  reproving 
to  us,  is  the  confidence  with  which  they  laid 
hold  of  that  one  rope  thrown  out  to  them  from 
above  as  they  struggled  against  the  floods  of 
unbelieving  and  ungodly  men,  amid  the  whirl- 
winds of  temptation  and  delusion,  and  relied 
upon  the  anchor  of  their  hope,  clung  to  the  pro- 
mise and  prophecy,  and  held  fast  to  God,  to 


OF   MISSIONS.  29 

duty,  and  to  a  joyful  expectation  !  Oli !  how 
long  was  that  vista  through  which  the  eye  of 
their  faith  had  to  pierce !  How  dark  the  vault- 
ed labyrinth  of  ages  and  empires,  of  floods  and 
fires,  of  revolutions  and  dynasties,  of  progress 
and  decay,  of  victories  and  defeats,  of  eclipses 
and  returning  light,  of  persecutions  and  tri- 
umphs, through  which  their  faith  had  to  wind 
its  darkling  way  to  the  glorious  but  fiir  dis- 
tant future !  How  faintly  did  the  lamp  of 
prophecy  burn,  when  it  cast  its  flickering  sha- 
dows and  transient  beams  of  light  upon  the 
waves  of  future  ages,  as  these,  like  tides,  rose 
and  fell,  ebbed  and  flowed,  and  what  time 
they  broke  in  fury  on  the  shore !  For  let  it 
be  remembered,  that  the  whole  scheme  of 
redemption,  and  its  accomplishment  and 
final  triumph,  were  all,  to  the  faith  of  these 
primitive  believers,  future,  invisible,  indefi- 
nite, obscure,  known  only  in  part,  and  seen 
only  as  through  a  glass  darkly.  And  yet  they 
believed.  They  counted  Him  faithful  who 
had  promised.  They  staggered  not  through 
unbelief.  They  had  not  obtained  the  pro- 
mises; but  they  saw  them  afar  off,  and  were 


80 


glad.  They  rested  in  hope.  They  endured, 
as  seeing  Him  who,  though  invisible,  was 
sure  to  come,  and  to  take  to  himself  his  great 
power,  and  reign.  They  took  God  at  his 
word.  They  esteemed  that  word  as  of  more 
certainty  and  might  than  all  the  treasures  of 
earth,  all  the  armaments  of  power,  and  all 
the  wisdom  and  politic  strategy  of  statesmen. 
They  counted  the  cost.  They  calculated  the 
chances.  They  weighed  all  consequences  in 
the  scales  of  eternity,  and  estimated  their  com- 
parative value  by  the  arithmetic  of  heaven. 
And  esteeming  an  interest  in  this  kingdom, 
and  in  its  ultimate  glory,  as  of  more  import- 
ance than  all  material  and  sublunary  things, 
they  denied  themselves  for  its  sake,  separated 
themselves  from  the  world,  and  consecrated 
themselves,  and  all  they  possessed,  to  the 
promotion  of  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  to 
the  overthrow  of  the  cause  and  kingdom  of 
Satan. 

It  was  the  saddest  time  c'ei'  lowered  on  earth, 
As  sin  and  sorrow  woke  in  Paradise, 
When  mercy's  voice  mid  frighted  nature's  cries. 
Broke  forth,  and  pledged  a  Saviour's  birth. 


OF   MISSIONS.  31 

Then  faith  in  Adam's  heart  heard  the  glad  cry, 
And  the  dark  cloud  which  had  his  soul  begirt, 
Was  loaded  with  glad  prophecy,  and  bright 
With  the  eternal  Saviour  nigh. 

Oh!  when  we  contemplate  these  ancient 
disciples  of  the  same  faith,  and  see  them 
going  forth  in  the  grey  mistj  morning  of 
the  world's  sad  apostacy,  to  contend  not 
merely  against  flesh  and  blood,  against  unbe- 
lieving, scoffing  men,  and  against  potentates 
and  rulers,  but  also  against  principalities  and 
powers,  with  no  promise  of  a  present  victory; 
when  we  picture  them  to  our  minds,  sowing 
the  seed  of  the  word  for  a  distant  and  future 
harvest;  when  we  behold  them  thus  toiling 
and  sacrificing,  not  for  themselves,  but  for 
us,  who  have  entered  into  their  harvest; 
when  we  hear  Enoch  proclaiming  the  coming 
of  Christ's  final  and  glorious  kingdom  to  an 
unbelieving  generation,  and  Noah  preaching 
the  same  glad  tidings,  and  Job  exulting  in 
the  anticipated  incarnation  of  a  manifested 
God;  when  we  look  in  upon  the  dying  Jacob, 
and  see  him  lifting  up  his  eyes  to  this  star  of 
hope,  and  dying  peacefully  under  the  light  of 
its  promised  salvation;  when  we  contemplate 


82  FAITH,   THE   PRINCIPLE 

Moses  preferring  self-denial,  and  sacrifice, 
and  death  itself  in  the  cause  of  Christ,  to 
the  pleasures  of  sin,  and  the  splendour  of  a 
throne;  and  Daniel  and  his  compeers  testi- 
fying for  the  supreme  authority  and  dominion 
of  a  coming  Messiah,  in  the  fiery  furnace  and 
the  lions'  den ; — oh !  with  what  shame  and 
confusion  of  face  should  we  be  filled,  when  we 
contrast  our  unbelief,  our  unfaithfulness,  and 
our  cold  and  lukewarm  service,  and  our  selfish 
covetousness,  and  our  easy,  self-indulgent 
benevolence!  How  shall  we  stand  in  judg- 
ment with  them  !  How  will  they  convince, 
and  accuse,  and  condemn  us!  And  how  far 
will  they  transcend  our  measure  of  reward, 
if,  with  our  poverty  of  faith  and  works,  we 
are  even  thought  worthy  of  any  place  in  their 
blest  society — who,  out  of  their  deep  poverty 
both  of  motive  and  of  means,  abounded  to 
the  greatness  both  of  faith,  and  hope,  and 
charity. 

Unto  the  East  we  turn — from  the  cold  bourne 
Of  our  dull  Western  cave  Faith's  pensive  mood 
Sets  there  her  tranced  eyelid,  gathering  food 
Of  solemn  thoughts,  which  make  her  less  foi'lorn, 
While  back  to  patriarchal  men  she's  borne. 


OF   MISSIONS.  S3 

There,  mid  her  evening  and  dim  solitude, 
She  joins  the  companies  of  the  wise  and  good, 
Who  walked  upon  the  Gospel's  glorious  morn ; 
Their  dwarf  dimensions  of  mortality 
Seeming  to  grow  upon  the  golden  sky, 
So  great,  so  high  their  heart's  fidelity! 


OUR  FAITH  PROVOKED  TO  EXERCISE,  NOT  ONLY  BY 
THAT  OF  FORiMER  AGES,  BUT  ALSO  OF  HEATHEN 
NATIONS. 

Isaiah  provoked  his  carnal,  worldly,  and 
unbelieving  generation,  by  holding  up,  in 
contrast  with  their  unbelief  and  want  of  zeal, 
the  faith  and  devotion  of  them  that  were  no 
people  by  covenant,  but  to  whom,  by  mis- 
sionary effort,  the  word  of  God  had  been 
revealed,  and  by  whom  that  word,  with  its 
exceeding  great  and  precious  promises,  had 
been  believed  and  acted  upon,  as  indeed  the 
word  and  testimony  of  God.  And,  oh  !  how 
should  we  now  be  provoked,  when  we  find 
nations  that  until  recently  lay  in  midnight 
darkness,  awaking  to  the  call  of  the  gospel 
trumpet,  and  not  only  themselves  receiving 
the  gospel,  but,  clothing  themselves  in  its 
4 


34 


panoply,  becoming  the  heralds  and  mission- 
aries of  the  cross  to  their  benighted  fellow- 
men. 

The  Queen  of  Rarotonga,  an  island  in  the 
South  Pacific  Ocean,  having  about  four 
thousand  inhabitants,  who  are  converted  to 
Christianity,  addressed  recently  the  follow- 
ing letter  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society. 

''''Dear  Sir — Love  to  you  through  the 
Lord  Jesus  the  Messiah.  You  know  that 
ours  is  a  land  of  poverty,  and  that  we  have 
no  gold  holes  here.  Firewood,  sweet  pota- 
toes, and  poultry,  are  the  only  means  by 
which  we  can  obtain  money. 

"At  the  annual  meeting  of  1855  we  found 
that  our  subscriptions  did  not  amount  to 
what  we  intended;  and  we  urged  one  another 
to  increased  diligence  that  our  subscriptions 
might  be  more  next  year.  One  of  our  num- 
ber got  up  and  said,  'The  bag  for  this  year 
is  not  full.  Let  us  try  if  we  cannot  choke 
it  up  before  we  talk  about  next  year.'  Then 
we  began  to  search  our  pockets,  and  by  some 
means  or  other  we  got  up  to  what  we  pro- 


OF   MISSIONS.  85 

mised,  and  we  were  very  happy,  and  thanked 
God  for  giving  us  the  means. 

"  We  are  prospering  spiritually  and  tem- 
porally. Men  and  women  are  imitating  the 
good  ways  of  you  foreigners,  who  have  come 
to  us  with  the  blessings  of  the  gospel,  and 
whose  customs  were  never  before  known 
in  this  land.  We  are  planning  to  get  more 
money  for  the  coming  year,  and  we  have 
already  obtained  something  toward  it.  This 
is  my  word  to  you,  Mr.  Moneyholder.  Do 
not  be  cast  down;  you  have  hitherto  had 
much,  and  I  hope  you  will  yet  have  more. 
We  will  do  what  we  can,  and  would  do  more; 
but  we  have  no  hole  here  where  gold  is  found. 
These  are  our  desires,  that  the  word  of  God 
may  increase  among  us,  and  spread  through- 
out the  world.  The  amount  of  our  sub- 
scription for  1855  is  two  hundred  and  thirty 
dollars.     Signed,  Na  Makea. 

Octol3er  4,  1855." 

The  report  of  the  London  Missionary 
Society  for  1856,  states  that  the  donations 
to  that  Society  for  the  previous  year,  from 
its  missionary  stations,  was  £14,773  8s.  5d, 


36  FAITH,    THE   PRINCIPLE 

or  a"bout  $71,000 ;  and  speaking  of  the  in- 
habitants of  Rarotonga,  Dr.  Van  Camp, 
American  Consul  in  the  Islands,  remarks: 

^'It  is  also  interesting  to  notice  how  anx- 
ious they  are,  both  men  and  women,  old  and 
young,  to  contribute  to  the  missionary  cause 
abroad.  They  have  regular  missionary  socie- 
ties, and  at  their  meetings  make  interesting 
speeches,  and  get  up  contributions  for  the 
relief  of  the  poor  naked  heathens  of  the 
West,  who  have  not  had  the  light  of  the 
gospel  among  them.  This  is  done  by  a 
people  who  wear  no  clothing  except  two 
yards  of  common  cotton  wrapped  around 
their  loins,  and  on  Sunday  some  wear  a 
shirt  besides.  These  people  contribute  lib- 
erally to  the  London  Missionary  Society; 
they  have  one  day  in  the  year  which  they 
call  the  'neay  ;'  when  they  form  in  large  pro- 
cessions, and  carry  their  donations,  which  is 
generally  of  money,  to  the  missionary  house. 
They  also  contribute  food  and  useful  articles 
for  the  noble  barque  John  Williams.  On 
her  arrival  they  also  form  a  procession  miles 
long,   each    carrying   some   article.      Some 


\ 

OF   MISSIONS.  37 

have  pigs  strung  on  a  pole,  others  chickens, 
fish,  yams,  bread-fruit,  &c." 

How  does  such  a  faith  in  the  purpose  and 
power  of  God,  and  in  the  success  and  sure 
recompense  of  every  eifort  made  for  the 
advancement  of  his  kingdom,  as  exhibited  by 
such  people,  in  circumstances  of  such  deep 
and  abounding  indigence,  shame  the  poverty 
of  our  contributions  offered  out  of  the  abund- 
ance of  our  wealth,  and  in  great  weakness 
of  faith,  notwithstanding  the  clearness  of  the 
evidence  on  which  we  are  permitted  to  rest, 
and  the  positive  command  by  which  we  are 
required  to  give  and  labour  and  pray  for  the 
universal  extension  of  the  gospel  and  king- 
dom of  Christ ! 

Let   us   then    stir   up  our   hearts  to  the 

consideration  of  this  subject.     The  principle 

of  Foreign  Missions  is  not  enthusiasm,  nor 

fanatic  zeal,  or  the  authority  of  any  man  nor 

of  any  church.     It   is  not  sectarian  prose- 

lytism  or  denominational  ambition.     No,  it 

is  none  of  these.     It  is,  as  we  have  seen, 

nothing  more  nor  less  than  that  faith  which 

lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  religion — faith 
4* 


38 

in  the  Bible  as  God's  word — faitli  in  the 
promises  and  prophecies  of  God  contained  in 
the  Bible — faith  in  the  power  of  God  to 
accomplish  all  his  purposes — faith  to  believe 
that  our  efforts,  however  feeble  and  inade- 
quate, are  mighty  through  God  to  the  pull- 
ing down  of  the  strongholds  of  sin  and 
Satan,  and  that  they  will  secure  for  our- 
selves a  recompense  of  glory.  It  is  that  faith 
which  confers  not  with  flesh  and  blood,  with 
selfishness,  or  even  with  prudence.  It  looks 
for  no  present  and  temporal  reward.  It 
asks  not  if  the  result  is  probable,  or  even 
possible.  It  is  impeded  by  no  difiiculties  or 
dangers.  It  shrinks  from  no  toil  or  sacri- 
fice. It  measures  results  by  no  scale  of 
economy  and  penurious  outlay.  It  only 
asks  for  the  word  and  promise  and  command 
of  God.  This  is  enough.  This  is  all  that  it 
wants.  And  planting  itself  firmly  on  this 
rock  of  ages,  it  consecrates  body,  soul  and 
spirit,  wealth  and  influence,  to  the  glorious 
work  of  the  evangelization  of  the  earth. 

This  principle   animates    the  Queen    and 
people  of  Rarotonga  and  many  other  mis- 


OF   MISSIONS.  39 

sionary  churches.  This  principle  animated 
Isaiah  and  all  believers  that  preceded  him. 
This  principle  sustained  Zephaniah,  Habak- 
kuk,  Jeremiah,  Obadiah,  Ezekiel,  Daniel, 
Haggai,  Zachariah,  and  Malachi,  in  labour- 
ing for,  and  expecting  those  future  glories 
of  Messiah's  kingdom,  of  which  they  were 
the  inspired  prophets.  This  principle  also 
gave  life  and  love  and  power  to  the  apostles 
and  primitive  Christians,  and  made  them  con- 
querors, and  more  than  conquerors  against 
the  combined  forces  of  earth  and  hell.  And 
this  is  still  the  principle  and  the  only  princi- 
ple which  can  originate,  and  sustain,  and 
carry  on,  through  evil  and  through  good 
report,  in  prosperity  and  adversity,  when, 
successful  and  unsuccessful,  and  in  the  face 
of  all  other  apparently  conflicting  claims  of 
home  and  country  and  kindred,  the  cause  of 
Foreign  Missions.  Take  away  the  command 
of  Christ,  and  it  is  madness.  Leave  that 
command  as  it  is,  and  it  is  as  simple,  as  plain, 
and  as  positive  a  duty  as  that  of  faith  and 
repentance  towards  God.  Remove  that  com- 
mand, and  its    accompanying  promise,  and 


40 


belief  in  this  enterprise  is  fanaticism ;  but 
"with  these  both  before  us,  unquestioned,  and 
unquestionable,  unbelief  in  this  cause  is  sin, 
indifference  to  it  is  treason ;  and  the  neglect 
of  it  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  advancing 
other  objects,  however  good  in  themselves,  is 
to  become  wiser  than  God,  and  to  impute  to 
Him  either  follj  or  imperfection,  or  Utopian 
impracticable  schemes. 

*'Ye  haughty  mountains,  how 
Your  sky-aspiring  heads ; 
Ye  valleys,  hiding  low, 

Lift  up  your  gentle  meads, 
Make  His  way  plain 
Your  King  before: 
For  evermore 
He  comes  to  reign." 

FAITH  IN  THE  CONYERSIOX  OF  THE  WORLD  SUSTAINED 
BY  INVARIABLE  PROPHECY  AND  PRACTICE,  AND  BY 
EVER    AUGMENTING   EVIDENCES. 

Let  it  then  be  remembered  that  neither 
the  cause  nor  the  principle  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions is  peculiar  to  the  Christian  dispen- 
sation of  the  Church  of  God,  or  to  Chris- 
tian believers.     They  have  both,  as  we  have 


OF   MISSIONS.  41 

seen,  existed  from  the  beginning.  They 
took  their  rise  at  the  same  epoch.  They  ori- 
ginated together  in  the  fall  of  man  and  the 
proclamation  of  a  coming  and  a  divine  Re- 
deemer, through  whom,  and  by  faith  in  whom, 
sinners  might  be  saved,  and  an  apostate 
world  be  again  restored  to  their  rightful 
and  only  happy  and  honourable  allegiance. 
Faith  in  this  cause  and  cooperation  in  its 
advancement  have  ever,  therefore,  constituted 
the  very  character  and  life  of  the  sons  of  God, 
as  opposed  to  the  sons  of  men,  of  those  who 
served  the  Lord,  as  opposed  to  those  who 
served  Baal.  They  constitute,  in  fact,  the 
life  and  the  activity  of  the  Church  of  God. 
Faith  is  the  crowning  grace,  and  this  devotion 
the  paramount  duty,  of  religion.  Faith  rely- 
ing simply  on  the  Avord,  authority  and  power 
of  God,  and  giving  itself  wholly  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  his  will,  is  of  all  possible  exer- 
cises of  humanity,  the  most  glorifying  to 
God,  and  the  most  noble,  exalted,  spiritual, 
and  divine  prerogative  of  man.  It  is  there- 
fore blessed  with  a  preeminent  benediction, 
in  proportion  as  it  believes,  confides,  acts, 


42 


and  ventures  everything,  without  having  sight 
or  sense  to  assure  its  certainty — knowing 
that  blessed  are  they  who  having  not  seen 
yet  believe,  and  who,  not  wearying  in  well- 
doing, persevere  through  every  discourage- 
ment, assured  that  in  due  time  they  shall 
reap  if  they  faint  not. 

To  us  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  and  the 
whole  purport  of  the  divine  oracles,  of  which 
that  prophecy  is  but  an  epitome,  is,  to  a 
great  and  glorious  extent,  yet  unfulfilled. 
"We  are  yet  in  the  wilderness  as  was  Israel 
in  the  time  of  Moses.  The  land  of  promise 
is  yet  unentered  and  in  reversion.  But, 
like  those  Israelites,  we  have  left  the  Egyp- 
tian land  of  darkness  and  of  bondage.  We 
have  seen  many  signs  and  wonders,  and 
mighty  works  wrought  by  our  divine  Leader, 
the  Captain  of  our  salvation.  Many  enemies 
have  been  overcome,  and  many  impossibili- 
ties removed  out  of  the  way.  Greater  mira- 
cles than  the  dividing  of  the  Red  Sea,  the 
water  from  the  rock,  and  the  manna  from 
heaven,  have  been  performed  in  our  day. 
The  Roman  empire,  that  colossal  range  of 


OF   MISSIONS.  43 

impassable  mountains,  reaching  to  the  very 
heavens — the  let*  which  hindered  the  success 
of  apostolic  preaching — has  been  taken  out 
of  the  way,  overthrown,  and  ground  to  pow- 
der, by  the  little  stone  cut  without  hands. 
The  Mohammedan  empire,  the  next  greatest 
adversary  to  the   progress  of  Christianity, 
has  been  undermined  and  weakened,  and  is 
tottering  to  its  fall.     All  the  other  systems 
of  false  and  superstitious  idolatries  are  weak, 
and  ready  to  perish.    India,  and  China,  and 
the  islands  of  the  sea,  are  opening  their  arms 
to  the  welcomed  reception  of  the  gospel.    The 
ice-bound  shores  of  the  northern  regions  of 
the  earth  have  caught  the  rays  of  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness,  and  are  now  verdant  with  the 
flowing  streams  and   the  green  pastures   of 
salvation. t 

*  2  Thess.  ii.  7. 

f  "The  labours  of  the  Lutheran  and  Moravian  mission- 
aries have  been  so  far  successful  among  these  people, 
that  but  few  of  them  are  now  without  the  pale  of  pro- 
fessed Christianity;  and  its  reforming  influences  have 
affected  the  moral  tone  of  all.  Before  the  arrival  of 
these  self-sacrificing  evangelists,  murder,  incest,  burial 
of  the  living,  and  infanticide,  were  not  numbered  amongst 


44 


The  vast  territory  of  Australia  is  now 
teeming  with  a  flooding  tide  of  Christian 
population,  and  is  supplying  the  very  means 
for  its  own  further  and  full  evangelization. 
This  whole  continent,  embracing  nearly  half 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  has  been  reclaimed 

crimes.  It  was  unsafe  for  vessels  to  touch  upon  the 
coast;  treachery  was  as  common,  and  as  much  honour- 
ed, as  among  tlie  Polynesians  of  the  Eastern  seas. 
Crantz  tells  of  a  Dutch  brig  that  was  seized  by  the 
natives  at  the  port  of  Disco,  in  1740,  and  the  whole 
crew  murdered;  and,  two  years  later,  the  same  fate 
befel  the  seamen  of  another  vessel  that  had  accidentally 
stranded.  But  for  the  last  hundred  years,  Greenland 
has  been  safer  for  the  wrecked  mariner  than  many  parts 
of  our  own  coast.  Hospitality  is  the  universal  charac- 
teristic, enjoined  upon  the  converted  as  a  Christian 
duty,  but  everywhere  a  virtue  of  savage  life.  From 
Uppernavik  to  Cape  Farewell,  the  Esquimaux  does  not 
hesitate  to  devote  his  own  meal  to  the  necessities  of  a 
guest.  The  benefits  of  the  missionary  school  are  not 
confined  to  the  christianized  natives;  and  it  is  observ- 
able, that  the  virtues  of  truth,  self-reliance,  and  gener- 
ous bearing,  have  been  inculcated  successfully  with 
men  who  still  cherish  the  wild  traditionary  superstitions 
of  their  fathers.  Some  of  these  are  persons  of  strongly- 
marked  character,  and  are  trusted  largely  by  the  Danish 
officials." — I)r.  Kane's  American  Eiyloraiion. 


OF   MISSIONS.  45 

from  barbarism,  and  is  fast  brightening  with 
the  promise  of  a  glorious  harvest.  The 
superhuman  system  of  Popery,  built  up  and 
supported  by  all  the  machinations  of  earth 
and  hell,  though  still  powerful,  and  in  some 
respects  making  progress,  is  filling  up  the 
measure  of  its  iniquity,  is  decaying  at  its  very 
root  and  heart,  and  only  awaits  the  lifting 
up  of  the  axe  which  has  long  lain  at  its  roots, 
to  call  forth  the  universal  cry  of  exulting 
nations,  "Babylon  is  fallen,  is  fallen." 

Much,  very  much,  therefore,  has  been 
accomplished  towards  the  full  and  final  tri- 
umph of  Christianity.  Generations  have 
been  instructed,  trained,  and  made  ready  for 
the  coming  of  the  Lord  in  his  great  power 
and  might.  All  the  preparations  for  a  great 
and  successful  campaign  have  been  manifestly 
going  forward.  The  discovery  of  the  mari- 
ner's compass  has  converted  the  impassable 
gulf  of  the  ocean  into  the  means  of  safe 
and  easy  intercommunication,  whitened  every 
sea  with  the  sails  of  commerce,  and  thus 
bound  country  to  country  by  all  the  ties  of 
interest  and  convenience.  The  printing 
5 


46 

press,  which  soon  followed  in  the  march  of 
providence,  has  given  wings  to  thought,  and 
multiplied  tracts  and  books  as  the  leaves  of 
the  forest,  or  the  sand  upon  the  sea-shore. 
The  application  of  steam  to  the  various  pur- 
poses of  navigation,  manufactures,  and  even 
printing,  has  accelerated,  perfected,  and 
indefinitely  multiplied  the  resources  of  human 
wisdom  for  the  furtherance  of  the  civiliza- 
tion, refinement,  and  christianization  of  the 
earth.  The  discovery  of  the  telegraph  has 
annihilated  time  and  space,  or  at  least  brought 
them  within  the  comprehension  and  control 
of  men.  The  power-loom  and  the  cotton-gin 
have  given  impulse  to  the  cultivation  of  a 
plant  which  can  supply  decent  and  beautiful, 
and  at  the  same  time  cheap,  clothing  to  all 
the  inhabitants  of  the  globe.  Slavery,  how- 
ever it  may  be  denounced  as  imperfect,  and 
attended  with  evil,  has  been  employed  by 
the  same  unerring  wisdom  and  over-ruling 
Providence  as  an  instrument  for  the  preserva- 
tion, elevation  and  conversion  of  millions 
who  would  have  lived  and  died  in  heathen 
ignorance,  superstition  and  cruelty.     War, 


OF   MISSIONS.  47 

that  most  fell  of  all  bloody  and  ferocious  de- 
mons, has  been  converted  into  a  source  of 
peace,  its  spears  turned  into  pruning-hooks 
and  its  swords  into  ploughshares,  and  its  very 
blood  made  to  fructify  barren  lands,  and  to 
bind  together  in  amity  and  peace  the  ene- 
mies of  many  past  generations.  The  spirit 
of  evangelization  has  been  awakened  in  the 
Christian  churches  throughout  the  world, 
"who  are  now  provoking  one  another  to  love 
and  zeal,  and  devotedness  in  this  work  of  the 
Lord,  this  mission  of  the  Church.  Even  now 
the  heathen  world  is  brightened  here  and 
there  by  many  a  blaze  of  gospel  light,  kin- 
dled amid  its  savage  wastes.  The  spires  of 
Christian  churches  are  seen  rising  amid  the 
domes  of  mosques,  the  splendour  of  heathen 
temples,  or  amid  the  wild  wastes  of  the  unre- 
claimed forest.  Missionaries  are  counted  by 
thousands,  and  their  schools,  and  scholars 
and  disciples  by  hundreds  of  thousands.  The 
Bible  is  translated  and  published,  and  tracts 
and  volumes  issued  in  some  one  hundred  and 
fifty  languages. 


48 

God,  therefore,  is  evidently  preparing  the 
way  for  a  final  entrance  into  the  land  of  pro- 
mise. All  things  are  becoming  ready.  The 
world  ere  long  will  be  traversed  by  lines  of 
steamers,  railroads  and  telegraphs.  Many 
will  run  to  and  fro,  and  knowledge  be  increased. 
Notwithstanding  all  the  evil  reports  of  spies 
and  traitors,  of  recreants  and  cowards,  "the 
sacramental  host  of  God's  elect"  will  be 
gathered  together  for  the  combat.  The 
order  will  be  given  to  go  forward.  The  pillar 
of  cloud  will  precede  them  by  day,  and  the 
pillar  of  fire  by  night.  The  Jordan  will  be 
crossed.  Jericho  will  be  surrounded,  be- 
sieged, and  fall.  Every  enemy  will  be  en- 
countered and  overcome.  The  land  will  be 
given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most 
High,  and  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  will 
become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his 
Christ.  The  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken 
it,  and  it  shall  surely  come  to  pass. 

Throughout  the  older  world,  story  and  rite — 
Throughout  the  new,  skirting  all  clouds  with  gold — 
Through  rise  and  fall  of  destinies  manifold, 
Of  pagan  empires — through  the  dreams  and  night 


OF   MISSIONS.  49 

Of  nature,  and  the  darkness  and  the  light, — 

Still  young  in  hope,  in  disappointment  old 

Through  mists  which  fallen  humanity  enfold, — 

Into  the  vast  and  viewless  infinite 

Rises  the  eternal  city  of  our  God. 

Her  towers  the  morn  with  disenchanting  rod 

Dimly  and  darkly  labours  to  disclose, 

Lifting  the  outskirts  of  th'  o'ermantling  gloom; 

Bright  shapes  come  forth,  arch,  pinnacle  and  dome, 

In  Heav'n  is  hid  its  height  and  deep  repose. 

We,  brethren,  shall  die,  like  Moses  and 
the  Israelites,  before  the  land  is  entered,  and 
the  conquest  achieved.  But,  like  Moses,  God 
has  called  us  up  to  Mount  Nebo,  and  shown 
us,  outstretched  before  us,  in  all  its  beauty 
and  magnificence,  the  goodly  land  of  pro- 
mised inheritance.  Like  Moses,  we  can  lie 
down  and  die  in  triumphant  hope  and  joy, 
and  with  our  last  breath  cry  "Victory  !"  and 
"Ouward!"  The  work  will  not  perish  with 
us.  Other  generations  will  take  it  up,  and 
with  a  better  spirit,  and  a  more  heroic  zeal, 
fight  valiantly,  and  contend  earnestly,  even 
unto  blood,  until  every  jot  and  tittle  of  all 

that  God  has  said  shall  be  accomplished. 
5=ic 


'50  FAITH,   THE   PRINCIPLE 

Ye  springs  and  fountains,  stream  and  lake, 

That  fill  our  world  below, 
And  bear  your  warrant  forth  to  go, 
A  garden  here  on  this  bad  world  to  make, 

A  thirst  of  life  to  slake. 

Ye  from  the  secret  sea  of  Love, 
Spring  forth  amid  the  wilderness, 

In  varied  forms  ye  move: 
Mountains  and  vale  with  beauty  dress, 

And  all  things  living  bless. 

Flow  on,  flow  on,  thou  mighty  main, 

And  send  thy  thousand  rills, 
Through  all  thy  secret  stores  which  strain, 

Through  dark  prophetic  hills. 
And  wheresoe'er  thy  waters  flow, 

The  gladdening  banks  between ; 
Let  trees  in  varied  order  seen. 
Trees  of  the  Lord  stand  fresh  and  green. 
Till  earth  blooms  Paradise  below. 

The  voice  of  the  Lord  is  on  the  waters — lo,  it  soundeth; 

lie  only  doeth  wonder : 
The  voice  of  the  Lord  is  on  the  waters — it  aboundeth. 

Above,  around,  and  under. 
Proclaiming  the  beloved — the  Sou  beloved  proclaiming 

In  living  thunder ; 
And  heaven,    and  earth,  and   sea,  are  witness  to  thy 
naming;. 


OF   MISSIONS.  51 

The  vraters  saw  thee,  and  wcje  troubled, 
And  now  through  watery  deeps  the  living  lightnings 

spring ; 
Deep  calls  to  deep  in  echoing  sounds  redoubled : 
Go  tell  it  forth,  the  Lord  is  King! 
The  Lord  sits  o'er  the  waterfloods, 
And  o'er  the  watery  multitudes 
His  Spirit  broods. 

THIS  FAITH  ESSENTIAL  TO  CHRISTIAX  LIFE,  AND  IS 
GUIDED  ONLY  BY  THE  AUTHORITY,  REQUIREMENTS, 
AND    PROMISES    OF    CHRIST. 

Shall  we  not,  then,  like  Moses  and  Isaiah, 
and  every  other  servant  of  God  in  every  age, 
believe  and  obey,  live  and  act,  labour,  and 
give,  and  pray,  for  this  full  and  final  glory 
of  the  gospel?  The  testimony,  the  evidence, 
the  prophecy,  the  promise,  the  fulfilment,  the 
preparation,  the  actual  progress  and  success, 
are  to  us  immeasurably  greater  than  to  them. 
Proportionably  great,  therefore,  ought  to  be 
our  faith;  for  to  whom  much  is  given,  of 
them  much  shall  be  required. 

Without  faith  we  cannot  be  Christians. 
Christians  live,  walk,  and  rejoice  by  faith. 
Faith  in  Christ,  in  his  word,  his  Spirit,  his 
providence,  and  his  living,  loving,  and  all- 


52  FAITH,    THE    PRINCIPLE 

powerful  presence,  is  the  element  in  which 
a  Christian  lives,  and  moves,  and  has  his 
being.  But  faith  has  no  existence,  can  have 
none,  knows  nothing,  believes  nothing,  hopes 
nothing,  works  nothing,  and  ceases  from 
working  anything, — beyond  the  word  and 
authority  of  God.  The  life  that  a  Christian 
lives  is  lived  only  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of 
God.  And  this  faith,  let  it  be  remembered, 
looks  to  the  word  of  God  for  its  knowledge  of 
the  Church  and  its  mission,  as  much  and  as 
implicitly  as  for  its  knowledge  of  Christ  and 
his  mission.  We  might  as  well  determine, 
by  our  own  reason  and  opinions,  what  Christ 
is,  and  what  salvation  is  and  ought  to  be,  as 
■what  the  Church  is,  and  what  she  ought  to 
be  and  to  do,  in  order  to  be  and  to  do  what 
was  intended  by  her  divine  Head  and  Founder. 
And  for  any  man,  therefore,  to  say  what  a 
church  ought  to  be,  and  what  it  ought  to  do, 
in  order  to  grow  in  grace,  and  spirituality, 
and  power,  beyond  or  beside  what  Christ 
teaches,  is  infinite  presumption  and  folly.  It 
is  to  substitute  human  testimony  for  divine, 
our  reason  for  God's  omniscient  wisdom,  and 


OF   MISSIONS.  53 

our  selfishness  and  self-will  for  God's  supreme 
and  infinite  authority. 

The  Church,  and  every  Christian  as  •  a 
member  of  it,  by  the  very  fact  of  his  faith,  is 
that,  and  all  that,  and  only  that,  which  Christ 
ordained  that  they  should  be,  and  has  taught 
us  that  they  are.  Now  what  the  Church  is, 
Christ  plainly  teaches,  when  he  says,  "who- 
soever believeth  shall  be  saved,"  and  that  of 
this  belief  he  shall  by  baptism  make  a  public 
profession,  and  become  a  disciple.  The 
Church  therefore  is  the  whole  number  of 
Christ's  professing  disciples.  .  This  is  what 
Christ  teaches  us  the  Church  is.  What 
the  Church  ought  to  do,  Christ  as  plainly 
teaches,  when  he  gave  it  as  its  great  com- 
mission, its  charter,  and  its  unalterable  pur- 
pose, the  command,  "  Go  into  all  the  world, 
and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.'* 
The  Church  is  therefore  to  preach,  and  to 
make  disciples  of  all  men  in  all  nations;  to 
train  and  instruct  them ;  and  to  fit  and  pre- 
pare them  to  do,  and  actually  and  energeti- 
cally to  perform  all  things  whatsoever  Christ 
has  commanded. 


54  FAITH,    THE    PRINCIPLE 

This,  then,  is  the  life  and  work  to  which 
every  Christian,  by  the  very  nature  of  Chris- 
tian life  and  character,  is  consecrated,  set 
apart,  and  made  a  new  creature  in  Christ 
Jesus.  To  believe  otherwise,  and  to  act 
otherwise,  is  to  believe  and  act,  not  as  a 
Christian,  but  as  one  who  denies  Christ,  and 
rejects  Christianity.  It  is  to  remain  igno- 
rant of  the  primary  and  fundamental  teach- 
ing of  Christ,  and  to  repudiate  the  primary 
and  fundamental  duty  which  Christ  enjoins 
upon  every  believer  in  him.  Such  a  man 
cannot  have  true  faith,  because  he  believes 
not  the  teaching  of  Christ,  but  rejects  it. 
Such  a  man  cannot  be  "a  disciple  indeed," 
because  he  refuses  to  enlist  in  the  very  ser- 
vice Christ  prescribes  and  commands.  And 
for  such  a  man  to  expect  to  become  holy  and 
happy,  here  and  hereafter,  and  for  a  Church, 
acting  in  such  a  spirit,  to  expect  this,  is  to 
expect  that  which  Christ  promises  to  obedi- 
ence to  his  command,  and  faith  in  his  teach- 
ing, and  coiiperation  with  his  Church  and 
people, — while  living  in  the  self-willed,  self- 
opinionated   belief   that   what    Christ    com- 


OF   MISSIONS.  55 

mands  may  be  disobeyed;  that  the  Church 
is  not  what  Christ  ordained  and  teaches  that 
it  is;  that  the  great  end  and  mission  of  the 
Church  is  not  its  extension  and  glorious 
increase,  but  merely  the  personal  salvation 
and  sanctification  of  individual  members. 

And  yet  is  not  the  Church  full  of  this 
infidelity?  Are  not  professing  Christians 
to  be  found  everywhere,  who  believe,  and 
live,  and  act,  as  it  regards  the  Church  and 
the  heathen,  and  their  time,  talents,  money, 
prayers,  and  influence,  as  if  Christ  had  given 
no  command,  and  founded  the  being  and  the 
well-being  of  his  Church  upon  no  definite 
charter,  and  no  special  promises? 

Brethren,  the  principle  of  Missions,  Home 
and  Foreign,  is  the  principle  of  faith — the 
very  essence  of  Christian  life,  and  power, 
and  progress.  This  cause  lives  or  dies,  pro- 
gresses or  declines,  is  paramount  or  second- 
ary, is  honoured  and  loved  or  undervalued 
and  disregarded,  just  as  the  principle  of  faith 
exists  or  is  wanting,  is  alive  or  dead,  is  strong 
or  feeble,  works  or  sleeps.    This  cause  cannot 


56  FAITH,    THE   PRINCIPLE 

(lie  until  Christianity  expires.  It  cannot  fail 
until  Christ's  words  fail,  and  Christ  himself 
becomes  faithless,  and  there  is  no  longer  faith 
upon  the  earth.  And  it  will  grow  and  multi- 
ply, and  be  more  and  more  taken  home  to 
our  business  and  bosoms,  be  incorporated 
with  our  very  hearts,  and  thoughts,  and 
affections,  and  enter  into  all  our  plans  and 
deliberations,  our  calculations  and  expendi- 
ture, just  in  proportion  as  the  faith  within 
us  is  alive,  and  active,  and  assimilating,  and 
sanctifying. 

Oh,  that  my  prayers  !  mine,  alas ! 
Oh,  that  some  angel  might  a  trumpet  sound, 
At  which  the  Church,  falling  upon  her  face. 
Should  cry  so  loud,  until  the  trump  were  drowned; 
And  by  that  cry  from  her  dear  Lord  obtain, 

That  her  first  love  might  come  again. 

Then  might  we  behold  the  signs  in  heaven 
and  on  earth  appearing,  which  shall  prefigure 
the  restoration  of  our  disordered  and  sin- 
cursed  earth,  and  lifting  up  our  heads  amid 
the  fears  and  shakings  of  convulsed  empires, 
w^e  might  be  able  to  rejoice,  because  redemp- 
tion's consummated  glory  was  at  hand. 


OF    MISSIONS.  5T 

'Tis  done!     lias  breathed  thy  trumpet  blast! 
Earth's  tribes  at  length  have  wept  their  last! 
On  rolls  the  host!  from  land  and  wave 
The  earth  sends  up  its  ransomed  slave ; 
There  rides  no  glittering  chivalry, 
No  banner  purples  in  the  sky  ; 
The  world  within  their  hearts  hath  died; 
The  Spirit's  sword  has  slain  their  pride ! 
The  look  of  pale  remorse  is  there, 
The  lip-involuntary  prayer; 
The  form  still  marked  with  many  a  stain — 
Brand  of  the  soil,  the  scourge,  the  chain; 
The  serf  of  Afric's  fiery  ground; 
The  slave  by  Indian  suns  embrowned ; 
The  weary  drudges  of  the  oar. 
By  the  swart  Arab's  poisoned  shore. 
The  gathering  of  earth's  wildest  tract, — 
On  bursts  the  living  cataract ! 
What  strength  of  man  can  check  its  speed? 
They  come — the  nation  of  the  freed. 
Who  leads  their  march?     Beneath  His  wheel 
Back  rolls  the  sea,  the  mountains  reel! 
Before  their  tread  His  trump  is  blown, 
W^ho  speaks  in  thunder  and  'tis  done! 
King  of  the  dead!     Oh,  not  in  vain, 
Was  thy  long  pilgrimage  of  pain; 
Oh,  not  in  vain  arose  thy  prayer. 
When  pressed  the  thorn  thy  temples  bare; 
Oh,  not  in  vain  the  voice  that  cried. 
To  spare  thy  maddened  homicide ! 
Even  for  this  hour  thy  heart's  blood  streamed, 
They  come!  the  Host  of  the  Redeemed! 
6 


58  FAITH,   THE   PRINCIPLE 

What  potentate 
Sits  there,  the  King  of  Time  and  Fate, 
Whom  glory  covers  like  a  robe, 
Whose  sceptre  shakes  the  solid  globe, 
Whom  shapes  of  fire,  and  splendour  guard  ? 
There  sits  the  Man  whose  face  was  marr'd, 
To  whom  archangels  bow  the  knee — 
The  Weeper  of  Gethsemane! 
Down  in  the  dust  ye  nations  kneel; 
For  now  earth's  withered  heart  can  feel! 
Now  let  thy  wan  cheek  burn  like  flame. 
Fired  by  the  lustre  of  His  name. 
Foretold  in  Eden's  blest  abode. 
And  now  enthroned  thy  Saviour  God! 

Yes,  faith  fixes  itself,  forms  its  opinions, 
draws  its  conclusions,  and  regulates  its  con- 
duct in  giving,  in  praying,  and  in  acting, 
only  by  the  word,  and  promise,  and  command 
of  Christ.  It  goes  not  beyond  these,  either 
to  the  past  or  the  future,  to  the  present  or 
the  near,  to  the  visible  or  the  personal,  to 
wisdom  or  philosophy.  It  denies  self,  and 
looking  at  home  and  kindred  as  only  parts  of 
the  great  field,  it  prays  tliat  Christ's  kingdom 
may  come  in  the  whole  earth,  even  as  it  is  in 
heaven;  and  it  does  good  to  all  men  as  it 
has  opportunity  and  ability. 


OF   MISSIONS.  69 

Thus  acted  patriarchs,  and  prophets,  and 
apostles,  and  thus  will  we  act.  And  leaving 
the  future  in  God's  hands,  and  leaving  all 
results  to  his  providence,  every  man  that  has 
a  true,  and  a  trusting,  and  a  working  faith — 
and  any  other  is  dead — will,  by  every  means 
in  his  power,  as  God  enables  and  prospers 
him,  according  as  he  hath,  and  out  of  the 
very  first  fruits  of  all  his  increase,  unite  in 
sending  the  gospel  to  every  creature,  in 
making  disciples  of  all  nations,  and  in  teach- 
ing them  all  things  whatsoever  Christ  has 
commanded. 

Faith  is  the  substance  of  our  hopes, 

Unseen  by  mortal  eyes ; 
Faith  is  the  key  of  prayer,  that  opes 

The  treasures  of  the  skies : 

Faith  is  the  dawn  of  heavenly  light, 

That  cheers  the  doubting  soul, 
And  drives  away  those  clouds  of  night, 

That  round  her  vision  roll. 

Faith  is  the  rising  of  the  morn. 

The  sun's  full  blazing  rays, 
When  heavenly  grace  shall  earth  adorn, 

And  fill  the  world  with  praise. 


60  FAITH,    THE    PRINCIPLE 

Faith  heaves  the  mountain  from  its  base, 

And  hurls  it  in  the  sea ! 
Faith  is  the  consummated  grace, 

Prepared,  blest  Church,  for  thee. 

What  then  though  darkness  cover  the  earth, 
and  thick  darkness  the  people  !  What  though 
the  idolatry  of  India  still  towers  liks  its  Him- 
alaya mountains  to  the  unscalable  heights 
of  heaven !  What  though  China  repairs  and 
rebuilds  her  mouldering  wall  of  exclusive 
defiance  to  the  gospel !  What  though  Africa 
lies  buried  in  the  yet  undiscovered  mystery 
of  her  untrodden  wastes!  That  darkness 
shall  be  dispersed,  those  mountains  shall 
become  a  plain.  Those  walls  shall  be  thrown 
down,  and  those  "everlasting"  gates  wide 
opened,  and  even  Africa  shall  unveil  her 
mystery,  hidden  as  it  has  been  for  ages 
past,  and  her  desert  wastes  become  fruitful 
as  a  garden,  and  blossom  as  the  rose.  The 
mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  declared  it,  and  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  hath  wrought  faith,  and 
hope,  and  expectation  in  a  believing  chosen 
generation,  to  believe,  and  live,  and  labour 
for  these  glorious  results. 


OF   MISSIONS.  61 

Thou,  -whom  in  tranced  ecstacy, 

The  prophets  dimly  scann'd, 
Wert  once  beheld  by  mortal  eye, 

And  borne  by  mortal  hand : 
Oh,  in  thy  power  once  more  appear, 
And  waken  every  ear  to  hear. 

A  clergyman,  devoted  to  his  work,  re- 
marked recently  that  his  hopes  of  the  African 
Mission  had  declined.  The  remark  made  a 
deep  impression,  and,  considering  the  cha- 
racter of  the  author,  a  somewhat  saddening 
one.  It  occurred  that  possibly  more  might 
feel  in  the  same  way  than  those  who  express 
their  feelings. 

That  we  have  had  a  trial  of  our  faith  in 
this  Mission  is  not  to  be  denied.  But,  as 
has  been  well  said,  true  faith  will  bear  a 
great  trial  and  yet  live. 

Deaths  on  missionary  ground  need  no 
more  discourage  the  hearts  of  beholders, 
than  did  the  deaths  of  the  ancient  martyrs. 
So  far  from  it,  the  effect  is  often  precisely 
the  opposite.  Instead  of  repelling,  they 
attract.  What  has  been  the  dying  testi- 
mony of  all  the  missionaries  in  Africa?  from 
6* 


62 

that  of  Mrs.  Savage  to  that  of  Mrs.  Hoff- 
man ?  Another  now  comes  up  from  the  same 
field — a  voice  as  sweet  and  as  triumphant  as 
that  which  we  hear  in  the  last  notes  of  the 
trumpet  of  the  first  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Adams,  of  the  American 
Board,  died  at  the  Gaboon,  a  few  months 
ago,  after  labouring  for  a  year  and  a  half, 
in  full  faith,  in  a  new  field  of  great  and  pe- 
culiar trials.  Passing  over  the  account  of  his 
labours  and  his  success,  we  give  only  his  last 
experience  and  testimony  when  his  work  was 
done,  \yhile  the  power  of  God  continues  to  be 
seen  in  such  measures,  not  only  in  the  hearts 
of  the  heathen,  but  of  the  missionaries  them- 
selves, the  contest  for  Christianity  in  this 
and  every  other  field  will  be  carried  on  until 
it  shall  be  crowned  with  victory. 

About  ten  o'clock.  Sabbath  evening,  ho 
experienced  another  paroxysm  of  chill,  which 
seemed  to  shake  his  system  to  its  centre. 
This  was  followed  by  great  exhaustion  and 
considerable  fever.  As  soon  as  he  was  able 
to  speak,  he  remarked  that  he  did  not  know 


OF   MISSIONS.  63 

how  his  disease  would  terminate,  but  that  he 
felt  entire  resignation  to  the  will  of  his 
Heavenly  Father,  and  an  unshaken  confi- 
dence in  his  Saviour.  During  the  night  he 
slept  some,  and  was  in  a  gentle  perspiration 
most  of  the  time. 

The  following  morning,  as  he  could  re- 
tain the  medicines  which  were  administered, 
notwithstanding  the  malignant  symptoms, 
we  hoped  the  disease  might  soon  yield.  But 
in  this  we  were  disappointed.  About  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  a  sinking  paroxysm 
came  on,  which  was  probably  the  crisis  in  his 
disease.  His  limbs  became  rigid,  his  breath- 
ing difficult,  and  we  supposed  him  sinking  in 
the  arms  of  death.  By  the  most  active 
means,  however,  we  succeeded  in  restoring 
him  to  consciousness,  and  in  a  short  time  he 
was  able  to  speak.  He  was  then  informed 
that  we  considered  his  recovery  quite  doubt- 
ful, and  asked  if  he  had  any  message  for  his 
friends  in  case  he  should  be  called  to  depart. 
He  replied  that  he  had  not,  except  to  send 
them  his  love,  and  urge  them  all  to  be  faith- 
ful, and  prepare  to  meet  him  in  heaven;  and 


64 


tell  them  that  he  loved  to  abase  self  and 
exalt  Christ,  and  that  he  had  no  other  trust 
but  Christ. 

About  eleven  o'clock,  Tuesday  morning, 
he  sunk  into  another  paroxysm,  and  we  again 
thought  him  dying;  but  after  about  an  hour, 
he  revived,  and  lay  for  some  time  in  a  quiet 
state,  during  which  he  seemed  to  be  engaged 
in  silent  prayer.  Then  suddenly  starting 
up,  with  great  animation  he  exclaimed,  "I 
hear  music — beautiful  music — the  sweetest 
melodies!  I  see  glorious  sights;  I  see 
heaven.  Yes,  the  gates  arc  open,  let  me 
go.  I  want  no  more  of  earth;  detain  me 
no  longer,  let  me  go!  I  started  once,  but  I 
saw  demons.  I  saw  the  chains  of  hell  and 
was  afraid !  But  now  I  see  another  view. 
Oh,  how  beautiful !  Oh,  wonderful,  wonder- 
ful views  I  have!  Oh,  the  love  of  Christ, 
the  love  of  Christ,  to  save  such  a  sinner  as  I 
have  been  !  I  have  been  very  unfaithful  to 
him,  and  yet  he  gives  me  such  sweet  visions 
of  glory  as  these." 

Addressing  those  who  stood  arouni  his 
bed,  he  said  in  tender  accents,  ''I  see  you 


OF   MISSIONS.  65 

now,  and  my  tongue  is  unloosed.  I  see  you 
wiping  your  eyes.  Weep  not  for  me.  I  am 
happy.  I  am  sorry  for  you,  brethren,  to 
leave  you  to  toil  on  alone.  Would  that  you 
could  be  with  me  here.  Be  faithful,  and 
God  will  bless  you.  I  have  been  pra}?ing 
most  earnestly  for  this  Mission,  and  trying 
to  gain  evidence  that  it  will  not  be  broken 
up.  I  had  hoped  still  to  enjoy  seasons  of 
prayer  and  of  labour  with  you,  and  to  have 
lived  to  see  the  salvation  of  this  people." 

Starting  again,  he  exclaimed  with  em- 
phasis, "Yes,  God  has  showed  me — I  knew 
he  would — what  he  is  going  to  do  for  Africa. 
Africa  shall  be  redeemed!  Brethren,  glo- 
rious times  are  coming!  These  people  will 
be  converted,  and  all  this  land  shall  be  the 
Lord's.  These  hills  back  here  shall  all  be 
holiness  unto  the  Lord!  Go  on,  brethren, 
be  not  discouraged,  for  I  see  glorious  things 
in  reserve  for  this  mission.  It  will  be  sus- 
tained. Tell  Christians  in  America  that  it 
■will.  Oh,  why  will  they  not  cease  wrangling, 
and  wake  up,  and  know  the  blessedness  of 
engaging  in  this  work?     But  if  God  should 


raise  me  up,  and  send  me  back  to  America, 
to  tell  them  the  visions  I  have  seen,  I  fear 
they  would  not  believe;  no,  not  even  if  one 
should  rise  from  the  dead." 

The  boys  belonging  to  the  school  coming 
in,  arrested  his  attention,  and  he  raised  his 
voice  and  cried  out, "  Oh,  banabame,  bishambe, 
bishambe,  bishambe,  (my  children,  beautiful, 
beautiful,  beautiful !')  Then,  addressing  them 
in  English,  he  said,  "  I  want  you  all  to  become 
Christians,  and  go  and  teach  your  country- 
men." "Why  do  I  linger?  I  am  going,  I 
am  going;  the  chords  of  life  are  breaking; 
Oh,  the  pain — no,  the  hlus  of  dying !  There 
is  no  pain!  Blissful,  blissful,  blissful!  Who 
would  have  thought  that  I  should  have  had 
these  glorious  views!  Wonderful,  wonder- 
ful, wonderful  things  I  see !"  A  cup  of  water 
was  handed  to  him,  and  he  remarked,  "You 
are  very  kind.  A  cup  of  cold  water,  given 
in  the  name  of  Christ,  shall  not  lose  its  re- 
ward. I  am  satisfied;  my  thirst  is  quenched 
with  the  waters  of  life.  Sweet  waters  1  Beau- 
tiful fountains  are  there!"  Naming  the  dif- 
ferent members  of  the  Mission  he  said:   "I 


OF    MISSIONS.  67 

love  them  all.  But  my  brothers  and  sisters. 
I  fear  my  brothers  are  not  Christians.  Oh, 
that  they  were  here  to  see  me  die !  Tell 
them  to  prepare  for  this."  "Do  go  and  see 
Bezia,  and  tell  him  I  have  prayed  for  him," 
referring  to  a  poor  boy  who  is  condemned  for 
witchcraft,  and  expects  to  be  tortured  to 
death.  "Why  do  I  linger?"  It  was  re- 
marked, "Perhaps  to  teach  us  how  to  die, 
and  to  comfort  us,  by  your  words  of  encour- 
agement." He  replied,  "No;  it  is  because  I 
have  been  so  unfaithful.  But  I  shall  soon 
go.  1  shall  be  the  first  missionary  buried  at 
Nengenenge,  and  I  am  glad  it  is  so ;  I  hope 
my  ashes  will  be  the  seed  of  a  church  here. 
I  rejoice  that  I  came  to  Africa !  How  won- 
derful that  I  should  have  been  permitted  to 
engage  in  this  work,  and  then  be  brought  to 
enjoy  such  visions  of  glory  as  these !  The 
hliss  of  this  hour  alone,  is  a  recompense  for  a 
life  of  toil  and  suffering.  I  am  going,  I  am 
going,  but  I  have  no  fears,  all  is  right!" 

It  was  said,  "We  feel  that  we  can  hardly 
spare  you.  Would  you  not  be  willing  to 
remain  and  labour  for  these  poor  heathen, 


68  FAITH,    THE   PRINCIPLE 

if  it  was  your  Heavenly  Father's  will?"  He 
replied,  "Oh,  yes,  certainly;  go  or  stay;  but 
surely  he  would  not  show  me  all  this  glory, 
and  then  send  me  back  to  earth  again  ?  Oh, 
wonderful,  that  such  a  sinner  as  I  have  been 
should  be  brought  to  this,  and  with  tongue 
unloosed,  and  the  bonds  of  sin  broken,  see 
and  describe  such  scenes  as  these!  But  I 
am  going.  Farewell.  Give  my  love  to  all 
the  brethren  and  sisters,  and  to  all  Christians, 
and  urge  them  to  live  for  Christ.  Remember 
what  I  have  told  you.  I  am  going.  My 
speech  on  earth  is  finished."* 

Yes,  departed  brother,  we  will  remember 
what  thou  hast  told  us,  and  hearing  in  thy 
dying  testimony  and  its  shout  of  victory  the 
echo  of  the  prophecy  and  the  promise  of  God, 
we  will  "live  for  Christ,"  nothing  doubting 
but  that  He  who  was  in  the  beginning  reveal- 
ed as  He  who  will  come,  and  who  in  the  full- 
ness of  time  did  come,  and  who  still  de- 
clares himself  to  be  "Him  who  is  to  come," 
will  come,  and  taking  to  himself  his  mighty 
power,  reign  King  of  nations  as  he  is  King 
of  saints. 

*  See  the  Parish  Visitor,  and  Missionary  Herald. 


OF   MISSIONS.  69 

To  Abraham,  it  was  said,  "In  thy  seed 
shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed ;" 
and  to  Moses,  it  was  said,  "Truly  as  I  live, 
the  whole  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  glory 
of  Jehovah!"     To  Isaiah,  it  was  also  said, 

"A  voice  crying: — 
In  the  "wilderness,  prepare  ye  a  way  for  Jehovah  ! 
Make  straight  in  the  desert,  a  highway  for  our  God  ! 
Every  valley  shall  be  exalted,  every  mountain  and  hill 

shall  be  made  low ; 
And  the  crooked  places  shall  be  made  straight,  and  the 

rough  places  plain ! 
And  the  glory  of  Jehovah  shall  be  revealed, 
And  all  flesh  shall  see  it  together: — 
For  the  mouth  of  Jehovah  hath  spoken. 

■X-  -x-  *  *  -St  * 

Oh  Thou  that  tellest  glad  tidings  to  Zion,  get  thee  up 

into  the  high  mountain  ! 
Oh  Thou  that  tellest  glad  tidings  to  Jerusalem,  lift  up 
thy  voice  with  strength ! 
Lift  it  up! — Be  not  afraid! 
Say  unto  the  cities  of  Judah,  "Behold  your  God!" 
Behold  the  sovereign  Jehovah  shall  come  with  strength! 
He  shall  feed  his  flock  like  a  shepherd : 
He  shall  gather  the  lambs  with  his  arm,  and  carry  them 

in  his  bosom  • 
And  shall  gently  lead  those  that  are  with  young." 


70      PAITH,    THE   PRINCIPLE   OF   MISSIONS. 

*'I,  Jehovah,  and  no  God  besides  me, 

A  just  God,  and  a  Saviour,  none  beside  me: 
Look  unto  Me,  and  be  ye  saved, 
All  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
For  I  am  God,  and  none  else, 
I  have  sworn  by  Myself:   the  "word  is  gone  out  of  my 
movith  in  righteousness, 
And  shall  not  return : 
That  unto  Me  every  knee  shall  bow, 
Every  tongue  shall  swear. 
Of  me  it  shall  be  said 
'Surely  in  Jehovah  is  righteousness  and  strength;' 
Unto  Him  shall  they  come,  and  all  who  scorn  him  shall 

be  confounded. 
In  Jehovah  shall  all  the  seed  of  Israel  be  justified  and 
shall  glory." 

Through  all  climes  His  glory  plant! 

Through  all  ages  chant! 
Sing  praise  and  honour  jubilant, 

As  is  and  aye  hath  been ! 
All  worship,  all  dominion. 
To  Ilim  who  all  things  holds  in  one, 

The  triune  God  unseen! 


^ 


M 


^^ 


Jlfk\ 


